The Book World of Medicine and Science . Crystals .

can b? read by the ordinary unscientific reader with interest and profit. The beautifully executed illustrations with which the text is interspersed cannot fail to open up to the tyro or amateur in crystallography a phase of the beauties of nature with which he was probably formerly entirely unacquainted. The author has banished any chance of his text proving tiresome by introducing historical matter relative to the pioneers in the science

yellow fever to be attacked, and it is matter for congratulation that the task was undertaken by one so well qualified to accomplish it as the late Sir Rubert Boyce. The practical researches which have established our modern system of yellow fever control are, of course, largely the work of the Americans, who abolished this scourge in Havannah and in Panama.
The names of Guiteras and Gorgas will always remain associated with the magnificent work there accomplished, but where they showed the way there was a strange Teluctance in many British colonies for medical officers to follow. That reluctance the author did much to over-come; his work in Barbados, West Africa, and many other tropical dependencies is too recent and too well known to need more than mention.. It is very instructive to note from his pages how often colonial medical officers have been snubbed and intimidated by their civil official superiors and by the local Press for venturing to diagnose yellow fever and for doing their best to prevent its extension.
Only last year, Sir Hubert shows, leading articles reflecting on local doctors, and crammed with an intolerant and ignorant fanaticism worthy of the Middle Ages at their worst, have been published by newspapers circulating in tropical countries. Into the different' sections of treatment, prevention, history, epidemiology, and so forth, Sir R. Boyce enters fully.
Space does not permit a detailed criticism of this exhaustive summary of the disease; suffice it to say that the volume is worthy of a place on the 6ame shelf with that of Ronald Ross already alluded to. Speaking generally, the latter is the greater of the two, for it is a masterpiece ; but this is no depreciation of the present volume, which is a most satisfactory and scientific resume of the present state of knowledge of yellow fever, compiled by one who was really an expert on this subject. 6d. net.) The outstanding feature of this manual is one that will, we are convinced, meet with cordial appreciation?it is the practical usefulness of the book to students and general practitioners. We are well aware of the existence of one or two very excellent manuals on the diseases of children, but in welcoming Dr. Miller s addition to the textbooks on this fascinating but difficult subject we realise that his book covers a wider area, and is at once both practical and yet of value as a work of reference. Taking the book as a whole we may sincerely congratulate the THE HOSPITAL August 26,1911. author on the serviceable nature of the result. When one man tries to get nearly the entire field of medicine within the limits of a moderate sized volume, it is unavoidable that faults or deficiencies should creep in, and it is impossible to compress large treatises on involved subjects into articles consonant with the purpose of a student's textbook. There is, indeed, but little to cavil at here, and the student who assimilates the teaching of Dr. MiLer will find himself exceedingly well fortified. The arrangement of the book is very convenient, the illustrations excellent and numerous, and the many tables of summaries and differential diagnoses are sure to be found of great assistance.
To single out sections for particular mention is an invidious task; the author himself is not aiming at monographic importance, but at all round up-to-date usefulness. Suffice it to say that such important matters as tuberculosis, rickets, the rheumatic infection and its allied diseases, and pyloric stenosis, are worthily dealt with.
Certain affections whose course differs in no essential from the same disease in adult patients are not described in very great detail. The infective diseases are grouped according to their bacteriology, and the chief disorder is followed by accounts of the other manifestations of that particular bacterial infection?an arrangement at least theoretically sound and useful in emphasising the tendency to generalisation which is shown by such affections in children. On page 227 it is stated that when diphtheria complicates scarlet fever the result is usually fatal; this is far from being the case, and the statement requires amendment in a future edition. A slip occurs on page 513 in the paragraph about morphine, where the dilution is wrongly given. Not the least useful section of this book are the two Appendices, containing respectively dietetic and therapeutic measures and notes on the societies, etc., aiding invalid and defective children. In virtue of his position as Medical Officer of Health to the port of New York the author of this book can command an attentive audience, and in this instance the lecture proves to be at once profitable and practical. Dr. Doty's views on the transmission of infectious disease by fomites are those of the majority of advanced sanitarians and are here discussed from a practical standpoint. He throws considerable doubt on the capability of fomites to retain infection in the active state, and though admitting the possibility under certain conditions that infection may be transmitted in this manner, he shows that greater importance must bo attached to other factors, such as the un-Tecogni6ed case, the carrier, and the part played by the insects. On the subject of marine hygiene we naturally get the benefit of the author's large practical experience, and also an insight into the working of the Health department of a large port, where international and personal interests have to be adjusted by the commonsense application of the principles of scientific sanitation. The chapter on plague is one of the most interesting in the book, and in it Dr. Doty sounds a note of warning against regarding as exclusive the view that plague is transmitted solely by the fleas infesting rats.
A clear description is given of the actual details relating to disinfection, and the relative value and practicability of certain disinfectants, and here again the author strongly sets his face against certain procedures which have long been accepted, though probably useless and tending to overshadow the greater value of simpler methods of thorough cleanliness. The efficacy of boiling water is admirably emphasised. Reference is made to the author's own investigations on the use of a lime and sulphate of copper mixture as a cheap deodorant, and convincing details of its efficiency are given. There is also included an account of a temperature test on a large scale in which several thousands of temperatures were recorded in order to glean some reliable information as to the variations existing in healthy persons. The book is one that deserves a wide appreciation, and we regret to see that the price is one that we cannot but regard as excessive, considering its inexpensive format. Curiously enough the word " pathogenic" is used on pages 61 and 62, where "pathognomonic" is obviously meant.
(London : Samuel Bagster and Sons, Ltd. 1911. 6d. net.) This unpretentious little volume gives a popular and interesting account of the comets, seen at various times in the world's history, of which trustworthy accounts have come down to us.
No previous knowledge of astronomy is necessary before the reader can understand the author's meaning, and we feel sure that the booklet will continue to be as popular as it already has been. On May 31, 1910, there were resident in this asylum 912 patients, a decrease of 20 as compared with the same date in the previous year. A large proportion of aged men and women were admitted, of whom thirteen were over 50,. twelve over 55, six over 60, seven over 70, and one over 80.
This fact accounts to a large extent for the apparent increase of insanity in the district during recent years, since formerly many of these helpless senile persons would not have been sent to the asylum. The death-rate worked out at 8.3 per cent, on the average number resident,, and at 6.4 on the total number under treatment. The recovery rate was 43.4 per cent. The maintenance rate i& 8s. 9d. per week for district paupers, while that for outrdistrict paupers and private patients is ?32 per annum..